We all have a backpack we are carrying around and every time we have a hurt, an argument, a mean comment, we add a rock to that backpack. That backpack just gets heavier and heavier until you do something about it. Until you let things go…
Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 242 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast!
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I went to College as an adult, which looking back I’m really glad I didn’t have the opportunity to go just out of High school because I was able to grow and formulate what I’m naturally good at and naturally enjoy before I spend the money and the effort to get a degree. I say that because when I’m recording this it’s College season, High school seniors are graduating and where I live most of them are going off to College.
But not all of them, and sometimes that stresses parents out. So Im telling you it’s going to be ok. They will find their way and it will be just fine, some more than just fine! So consider that thought “They will find their way” when you’re having all the thoughts in your head like they will be living with you forever or never amount to anything because. Go easy. They will find their way.
On the topic of College, when I was in my senior year in College and I was figuring out my final grades I knew I had to do really well on a certain exam to graduate summa cum laude, at the time that was really important to me. So I studied and studied for it. I studied exactly what this professor told us to study. When it came time to take the test, I looked at it and it didn’t resemble the study guide at all. The whole thing was foreign to me, I thought I had gotten the wrong test, but nope he said that’s it. Needless to say, I didn’t do well.
Once I got my grade I asked the professor if I could meet with him because I was one point from being suma cum laude and I asked if there was any extra credit to get the grade up. He literally laughed. There was no extra credit, the grade is what it is and that was that. So poor me I graduated cum laude instead. I was upset but I realized wait a minute, this isn’t going to matter at all for what Im trying to accomplish so I let it go. I accepted that I had done my best and Im proud of that. It didn’t change anything for me but the color of the cord around my neck at graduation and that I could handle.
We get ourselves all worked up over things that aren’t going to matter at all in a year. Heck maybe not even in a week. And we like to hang onto things way longer than we should. We stay mad at our partner over something they said a week ago, we hang onto the story of something that happened 20 years ago, we hang onto relationships that are toxic for way too long. These things hold power over us and make us feel heavy and weak. I love the analogy of we all have a backpack that we are carrying and every hurt or pain or mistake or argument or mean comment is another rock we have added to the backpack. Some are big and some are small but they all stay in that backpack until we let them go. They don’t jump out of the back pack on their own, they have to be taken out, they have to be let go. And of course some will be heavier and harder than others to let go of but they will weigh you down until you do. It doesn’t mean it didn’t happen to let them go, it just means you’re done giving them the power to weaken you. For some of us this requires therapy, for some of us we can simply do a daily thought download, which I have found helpful and insightful. Sometimes you don’t even realize you’re carrying around a thought that’s weighing you down until you read your own words on the paper. Try it, you might be surprised. And look this is not just something we do with our emotions, we hang onto things way too long in a lot of ways and it all just adds to our backpack of rocks.
Look no further than our own environment. Our environment affects our mood more than a lot of us realize.
How many have a cluttered closet full of clothes we don’t like and never wear, some don’t even fit, but we say to ourselves what if we can fit back into them or what if they come back into style? This adds a level of anxiety to getting dressed that none of us need. Cleaning out my closet is one of the nicest things I do for myself. Unloading excess baggage is so freeing. Doesn’t it feel good to let go of things that are no longer serving us or that we no longer feel the same way about? Someone else might love those things. Go through your closet and donate the clothes you no longer want, you may be giving someone a new interview outfit, a new date outfit, a new first day of college outfit. Your closet should be full of clothes that make you look the way you want to look and feel the way you want to feel, clothes that make you feel beautiful or happy. Let go of the ones that don’t.
The same goes for the rest of your home too.
As an interior designer, people will often say to me about things in their house “I hate that grandfather’s clock, but it was my grandma’s, so I feel like I should keep it. My answer is always gonna be the same. You are not honoring that clock or your grandmother by walking by it every day hating it. There’s someone that would love and cherish that clock and you would honor your grandmother by letting that piece start it’s new story at a home that loves it.
I find it very peaceful and satisfying going through my home and knowing every single thing in there is something I love. Your home should be filled with only things you love and that bring you peace. Let go of the things that don’t.
So my challenge to you this week is if you’re feeling extra heavy emotionally do a thought download, If you aren’t sure what a thought download go back and listen to episode 235 I explain exactly how to do that, but you just write every single thing that comes to your mind. Sometimes, I will think something and say to myself, I can’t write that down, but I always do because I know the only way to let it go is by taking it out of my brain by writing it down, otherwise it’s still up there in the backpack otherwise known as our brain just weighing us down, and never underestimate the power of your environment. What do you need to let go of there? That can really weighs us down too, our home should be a respite, what do you need to let go of to make that happen?
It feels good to let go, what do you need to let go of?
I love you guys, I’ll talk to you in a few days.
